Asylum seeker hotel numbers up by 13 per cent in three months, new data shows
Over 36,000 people were staying in government-funded accommodation in September
The number of asylum seekers living in UK hotels has shot up by 13 per cent in three months, according to new figures.
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There were 36,273 people staying in such accommodation in September, up from 32,041, data from the Home Office has revealed.
The number is also up on the same point last year, when there were 35,628 asylum seekers in hotels.
The data comes after Labour recently pledged to end the use of asylum hotels by the end of this Parliament.
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Last month, the Government announced that two barracks in Scotland and southern England would be used to house around 900 men temporarily, as part of their efforts to stop using the hotels to temporarily house asylum seekers.
The numbers in hotels peaked at 56,018 at the end of September 2023 under the then-Conservative government but dropped to a record low of 29,561 in June 2024 just before the general election.
Prime Minister Sr Keir Starmer previously said he wants to see asylum hotels closed "as quickly as possible" but insisted Labour "inherited a huge mess" from the Tories, blaming them for failing to process claims.
The Home Office announced in October that it would be using two military sites - Cameron Barracks in Inverness and Crowborough Training Camp in East Sussex – as contingency accommodation.
At the weekend, hundreds of residents turned out to protest against the plans for the Crowborough site, which has the capacity to house 540 men.
Meanwhile, in Scotland, concerns have been raised about "community cohesion" and how the local authority could ensure people are prepared for the "sudden" presence of a few hundred asylum seekers.
This week, Epping Forest District Council (EFDC) said it would seek to appeal against a High Court ruling which dismissed its bid to stop the Bell Hotel in Essex from housing asylum seekers.
The hotel became the centre of a wave of protests over the summer after an asylum seeker housed there was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl in Epping in July.
A Home Office spokesman said: "We are furious at the levels of illegal migrants and asylum hotels.
"There are now fewer than 200 in use and we will close every single one.
"Work is well under way to move illegal migrants into military bases to ease pressure on communities across the country.
"And that's why last week we set out the most sweeping reforms in modern times to restore order and control to our borders.
"We will remove the incentives that draw illegal migrants to the UK and make it easier to remove and deport them."